A dual process model of grief counseling: findings from the Changing Lives of Older Couples (CLOC) study.

This paper tests Stroebe and Schut's Dual Process Model of Bereavement using data from the Changing Lives of Older Couples (CLOC), a prospective study of 1,532 married persons over the age of 65. This analysis focused on a weighted sample of 104 widowers and 492 widows at six months, 18 months, and four years later. Bradburn's Affect Balance Scale was used as the dependent variable, and the independent variables were based on Stroebe and Schut's bereavement model. The multiple regression analyses revealed that loss- and restoration-oriented activities were important throughout bereavement. Implications for bereavement counseling are discussed.